Samsung Chip Factory Linked To Cancer

By Gene Ryan Briones on 12/14/2012 07:44 PST

Just as we were about to rest the case against Samsung and its labor controversies, we are hearing another complaint, this time, from the Korea Workers’ Compensation and Welfare Service. According to the South Korean government agency today, a woman who worked at a Samsung chip factory for five years died of breast cancer earlier this year. The agency has recognized a link between cancer and Samsung’s chip plants, saying that there was a “considerable causal relationship” between the woman’s cancer and her five years of work at a semiconductor plant near Seoul.

The woman, who was not named due to her family’s request, reportedly worked for 8 to 12 hours a day and was often assigned to work on night shifts. “There was an exposure to organic solvents and radiation. The earlier the exposure is, the more likely the cancer is caused,” the agency added. Meanwhile, Samsung spokesman James Chung says that the company will not appeal the government’s decision. Korea Workers’ Compensation and Welfare Service is also asking Samsung to pay the woman’s bereaved family. Although the amount was not disclosed, an agency spokesman alluded that it usually amounts to nearly four years of a worker’s salary.